I-10 from Houston to San Antonio

Motoring along I-10 from H'town to S.A....tell me about any/all good eats within about 20 minutes of I-10. I know 'bout BBQ in Luling & Lockhart; is anything tasty hiding in plain sight along the highway? IRRC, some place near Schulenberg had a smokehouse breakfast?

You're thinking of Oakridge Restaurant in Schulenburg. It's good and so is Frank's Restaurant (across the interstate). Also, check out the Kountry Bakery (about a half mile south of I-10) on Hwy. 77 for some fabulous Czech kolaches. Get there early!

I definitely agree on Kountry Bakery, also known as Besetny's; there's one in Hallettsville and Weimar also but the one is Schulenberg is closest to the freeway, just about 1/2 mile on your left. They serve lunches too and I think the Schulenberg location is open until 5. Franks is better than average for a roadside cafe but not knock your socks off fare. They've been in business for decades and moved out on the freeway to survive but they still serve some dishes acknowledging the German culture of the area. Their German plate, a lunch special every day, includes awesome sausage from Kasper's in Weimar and you can pick up packages of kolaches from Weikel's in La Grange and other home-baked goods just in case you're too full to drive on down to Besetny's.

Novosad's in Hallettsville is good bbq but probably more than 20 minutes off the freeway and only open Wednesday thru Saturday for lunch.

I saw an interesting place coming through Columbus, Frau Mau's Bakery, Santa Fe Style Breakfast burritos, in a filling station about a mile north of I-10 on 71 or 77 or whatever that highway is that goes through Columbus. They were short staffed and didn't have anything but some baked goods when I was there so I don't know how good they are, other than some very good chocolate chip cookies. I don't know what Santa Fe Style Breakfast burritos are.

I meant to mention Kloesel's steakhouse in Moulton, north of Shiner, if you're up for a big meal. They feature Heartbrand Akaushi beef which is raised near there. I've been in the area several times and never had the chance to try it yet.

I suggest getting off I-10 in Columbus and drive Business US 90 to break the monotony of the interstate.You drive through the downtowns of the towns that I-10 essentially bypasses, it's much more scenic, and you get a feel for small town Texas. There's a really good burger with fresh meat at the Dairy Cone in Columbus, just as you are leaving town. Schulenberg has Franklin's Fried Chicken, excellent as well. A plus, most of the towns have interesting antique stores. If the pace is too slow, I-10 is never more than a half mile away, so it's easy to get back to the faster but more tedious pace.

I would say probably for Dairy Cone, and doubtful for Franklin's. I forgot to mention Dairy Cone has some really good bacon on their burgers. I'm pretty sure the antique places are open, also check out Flatonia for antiques. Remember, I-10 is just minutes away if you don't find what you want, see earlier suggestions.

One small correction to the above post: Franklin's Fried Chicken is located in Weimar, not Schulenburg. And one more bit of info. ....Sengelmann Hall, an old dance hall and saloon located in downtown Schulenburg, was recently restored to its glory days and it now includes a restaurant/bakery featuring German/Czech food. Its website is http://www.sengelmannhall.com.

While 90 parallels I-10 (and in some cases the two are one) and is only a mile or two away, 90-A runs about 20-30 miles south of I-10; it was the southern route between Houston and SA.

You could pick it up on the east side of Houston off I-10 and cut through the SE quadrant of Houston, coming out on S. Main, or pick it up by taking the outer loop (99) on the west side, or go down thru Schulenburg to Hallettsville.

If you start as far back as Houston you'd go through Stafford where you could hit Huarache Azteca Express, open 7 days; if you're there on the weekend, be sure to get the lamb barbacoa. There are many here who could recommend places in Sugar Land, Richmond and Rosenberg, most probably open Sundays. In Eagle Lake, Austin's bbq serves some of the best sausage in the state and, sometimes, cabrito, but if they're open at all on Sunday it's going to be very limited hours.

In Hallettesville, the Kountry Bakery is right on 90-A in the middle of town but only open until 2pm and probably closed Sunday; Novosad's is only a half block off 90-A but only open Wed thru Sat for lunch, I think. On the west end of town is Joe's Fried Chicken, a place I've noticed but never stopped at.

In Shiner, a couple of places are interesting, but I've never stopped: Friday's Fried Chicken and Country Corner Cafe, both right where 90-A and 95 intersect. Both always have good crowds at meal times.

In Gonzales, Gonzales Food Market, downtown, 1 block west of the courthouse on St. Lawrence, is well-known for it's sausage. It's good but not as good as Austin's (or Luling's). They also have a couple of items not commonly found in Texas BBQ places, beef and lamb ribs. I've had the lamb ribs and they were very good, almost as good as pork.

I've been to Friday's in Shiner, it was just ok. The best chicken in town is, surprisingly, at the Exxon station. They have a pressure cooker, and if you hit it fresh, it's incredible. My wife found this place when she panicked and evacuated to Shiner before Hurricane Rita. There's a place just east of Richmond on alt. 90 called Galvan's Sausage House, great fatty brisket and pork sausage, but closed on Sundays. I love Alternate 90, it brings back childhood memories going to my great aunt's house in Gonzales, plus I got married in the little town of Weid between Halletsville and Shiner two years ago. The thing I like about both highways is that they run next to railroads, and I love trains more than I do food.

I'll definitely drive some stretches of 90 & 90A, as I live just off of 90 in LA, within earshot of the train tracks in another town called Luling. Pressure cooked chicken is good when it's fresh, but it goes downhill quick--either the crust gets soggy or hard as concrete.

The last time I drove to New Orleans, I couldn't take I-10 anymore so I got off on 90. I think I drove through Luling, but I definitely went through the frog capital of the world, Rayne, where I saw the first Piggly Wiggly I'd seen in years. One thing that struck me about the towns in Louisiana was that they all seemed to have one or two crawfish to go stands, it was the season, and usually open after 4 or 5 pm. It was noon plus when I drove through, so no luck. I would have stopped on the way back, but due to a rather unfortunate 3 am ish incident on Bourbon Street where I tore my knee acl, it just hurt too freaking much to get out of the car, so it was I-10 all the way.

Thiry years go there was a restaurant and truck stop on 1-10 between Houston and SA called Grumpys. They had these huge steaks (excellent meat). The food was good and the portions were huge. I had heard Grumpy was one of those German farmers from around there and grew his own meat. It was the best place in the area. Is it still therre?

Too bad to hear about Grumpy's Truck Stop. I stopped in there nearly 25 years ago driving between SA and Houston. I still tell friends today about the best chicken fried steak I had ever eaten was at Grump's Truck Stop in Flatonia, TX. It was smothered in mashed potatoes and white gravy, yum yum! I recently ate some wiener schnitzel in Berlin, Germany which was a close second.